


Striders Don't Break Promises

by youreyestheyglow



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 00:58:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1100576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youreyestheyglow/pseuds/youreyestheyglow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave and Dirk's reunion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Striders Don't Break Promises

You weren't happy about your puffy purple pants now, and you're  _definitely_ not okay with them now.

 _He_ isn't wearing weird puffy pants.  _He_ isn't a  _Prince of Heart_. He's a  _Knight_. He's wearing a cape - which you'll admit isn't the coolest thing you've ever seen - but -

He's holding a sword. You remember seeing something like it in what pictures you could dig up from his time in your universe. 

His face is pale. He hasn't seen you yet. He's looking at the sky. 

He's waiting.

You all are.

Well, you're not paying as much attention as you should. 

"Dirk?" Jake yells. Your eyes flicker to him, but he can't hold your attention, because your brother heard Jake yell, and he's looking at you, and his mouth is hanging open.

You can't breathe. 

"Dirky!" Roxy yells. "Wtf are you doin' over there? Git your fine ass over here!"

Your legs move jerkily as you head towards the group of people - humans and grey-skinned orange-horned non-humans - and Dave. "Did you really just say 'wtf' out loud?" You ask as you get closer. 

"Yes, yes I did. Why, you gotta problem with that?"

"Maybe."

Dave is looking at you. You can feel his eyes on you. Even through his shades, you can feel them.

You wonder where he got them from in his universe. You doubt Ben Stiller would give a thirteen-year-old his shades. 

You turn to face him, grateful for the protection of your shades. 

People always said he had red eyes. You wish you could see past his shades.

"Do you have weird eyes like Dave does?" asks one of the alien guys (girls? non-binary? how the fuck are you supposed to know) next to your brother.

Dave whacks him. "Shut  _up_." He looks at you, flushing a little. "Karkat's a douche. You can ignore him." Karkat (boy's name? girl's name? do they have the same genders as humans?) glares at your brother.

You take off your shades. "Do they count as weird?"

Karkat grimaces. "See, that's the problem with you humans. I can't fucking  _tell_. Orange is really close to yellow, so it's not all that weird - or so any sane troll would think. But no, with humans, it's the other way around. Dave's eyes are weird on  _either_ planet. Your's are only a little off."

"I guess it's true, then?" You ask. "You do have red eyes?"

His eyebrows quirk up. "Did you not know me?"

You shake your head. "You died centuries before I was born."

"How did... I guess that's getting into Egbert's realm of expertise, huh. I never did get ectobiology. Time shenanigans, I get. Ectobiology is just weird." He falls silent, and the kid in blue gives him a strange look. 

"Why is it that whenever I have to tell you something, you refuse to shut up, and now you've got exactly three damn sentences?"

Jake snorts. "So it's a Strider thing, huh? Let me tell you, Dirk over here talks like if silence falls it'll absolutely murder him."

The kid in blue nods. His hood slides off. He looks like a copy of Jake. "Dave couldn't shut up to save his own stupid life." 

You hear a sigh from your right and turn to see Roxy's mom (daughter?) looking at Dave with the ghost of a smile on her face. "Dave. Please stop being obtuse, and take your shades off. I know it's difficult for you and you feel vulnerable, but -"

An alien (troll?) grabs Rose's hand. "I think you're exposing a bit too much, Rose."

Rose smiles at the alien. "I suppose I am." She doesn't release the alien's hand. Dating?

Dave ducks his head and pulls his shades off. He looks up.

Red eyes. They're red. The stories are true. 

Now that the shades are gone, you see things you didn't see before, things your brother usually trusted the shades to hide. Anxiety. Excitement. Sadness? 

"What happened to me? In your universe?" You find yourself asking. 

Dave's breath hitches. "You - ah - died. Fighting Jack Noir - this dude who got his hands on the Black King's ring. Stabbed with your own katana."

You look down at the katana in your hand, automatically tightening your grip on it, as though it would spring up and stab you.

"How did I - uh -"

"Die? Fighting the Condesce. I think. No one really knows. But you killed the juggalo presidents -" You see his mouth quirk into a half-smile - "It sounds funny, I know, but it was - awful. But you killed them and you and Rose -" You nod at the orange-clothed girl sitting to your right, noticing Roxy's proud grin as you turn back to Dave - "Probably went after the Condesce. No one heard anything from either of you, so presumably, that's how you died."

Dave nods, glancing at the sky, where the Condesce herself had fled after killing Aranea and retrieving Jane. No one is going after her at the moment - you're assuming there's a reason behind that, because if there wasn't, you know for a fact Roxy and Jake would already be going after her. 

You can't think of anything to say. 

Dave doesn't say anything, either.

He's taller than you by a couple inches, but thinner. If he wasn't holding that sword like he could use it - if he wasn't wearing his God Tier robes - you'd call his structure delicate. 

His eyes are flicking over you, as well. There's something that could be called amusement in his eyes when he notices your pants, but his eyes stick on your gloves. 

Did you wear them in his universe too?

"Roxy?"

"Rosey?" Roxy answers cheerfully.

"I believe you're much better with the physical side of a relationship than Striders are."

Roxy grins devilishly. "My Mama told me to, I can't disobey her!" She says cheerfully, waggling her eyebrows at the kid in blue. 

"What are you -"

She smashes into you, and at the same time, Blue Kid pushes Dave, laughing the whole time.

You and Dave collide.

And somehow, you're hugging. 

You'd be lying if you said your eyes weren't wet.

Your whole life, you've wondered what it would have been like if you had lived with your brother. You wondered if you would still have gotten your tattoo, if you would have made smuppets and robots. You've wondered if you would have hugged your brother.

You honestly don't think you'll let him go.

He seems much more  _real_  while you're hugging him. The guardian you never had.

Of course, you were his guardian, too, his older brother/dad/ectobiological creator. And he actually  _knew_ you.

What if you don't measure up?

Dave straightens up. 

His eyes are wet, too. 

"Dirky - that tattoo you have -"

"Hmm?"

Roxy is nodding at your arm. "Davey would def wanna see  _that_ piece of artwork."

Oh. 

He's going to think you're a freak, unhealthily obsessed with his work. 

You push up your sleeve anyway, revealing your Hella Jeff tattoo. 

Dave stares blankly at it for half a second before his eyes widen and his jaw drops. "Is that - Hella Jeff?"

You nod. "In my universe, you were famous for your SBaHJ movies. Actually, that's where you got those shades, in my universe - Ben Stiller played Sweet Bro, and he gave you the shades."

Dave huffs. "See that, John? I got the shades, even in the Alphaverse."

Blue Kid - John - scrunches his nose. "Yeah, and straight from Ben Stiller himself. If you ever get famous, you had better get me Nic Cage's autograph."

"I'll set you up with him for a dinner date." His eyes flick over to yours. "Bro, that is an incredible tattoo."

You grin. "Thanks."

"Dave? Dirk? I hate to interrupt such a lovely family reunion," Rose says, "But I believe Lord English is here."

"On his way, you mean," corrects the alien holding Rose's hand.

"No. He is never on his way. He is already here."

Dave grabs your arm. "Listen, Bro - Dirk - dude, just - I don't know, just - don't die, okay? Whatever you have to do - don't die. Not again."

You take a deep breath. "I won't if you don't."

Dave slides his shades back on. "That counts as a promise. Striders don't break promises." 

You smirk as you replace your shades. "That sounds a little like a challenge."

"Who's the better fighter?" He asks. "Actually, I kinda wanna know - now that you're my age -"

"That's a challenge." 

Something bright flashes in the corner of your eye.

"Don't you dare lose," Dave says, and for a second, you see the person you saw in pictures online, the person who could do anything, who soared off into space on a piece of shit and disappeared. 

And you're not going to let your brother die a second time. 

You ready your katana. 


End file.
